Seat belt anchorage

ABSTRACT

A seat belt anchorage is provided for a seat belt for use to protect a person sitting in a front seat of a two-door vehicle. The anchorage comprises a slider bar mounted in the interior of the vehicle adjacent the door sill and extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. One end of the seat belt is slidably attached to the bar. The bar is adapted to be moved towards the sill when the slider bar is subjected to a force from above so that the distance between the slider bar and the sill is reduced. This minimizes any risk of a person catching a shoe heel between the slider bar and the sill.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

THE PRESENT INVENTION relates to a seat belt anchorage and moreparticularly to a seat belt anchorage for a seat belt provided for useby a driver or front seat passenger of a two-door vehicle.

In a two-door vehicle, such as a car having only one door on each side,where a three-point seat belt is utilised it is not convenient toarrange a fixed floor anchorage for one end of the belt on the flooradjacent the front seat, between the front seat and the door. Although,for safety reasons, it is desired to have one end of the belt in thislocation when the belt is in use, if one end of the belt is permanentlyanchored in this position, then, when the belt is not in use, and whenthe strap portion of the belt has been retracted into the retractorreel, part of the seat belt will extend across the door opening and thiswill impede access to and from the rear seat. Because a part of thestrap will extend across the lower rear corner of the door opening,there will be a risk that passengers will trip on the belt when gettinginto or when getting out of the rear seat of the car.

SUMMARY OF THE PRIOR ART

It has been proposed previously to provide an example of such ananchorage is disclosed in U.K.-A-2003020. In this prior arrangement aslider bar is utilised which is located in position in the motor vehicleto extend longitudinally of the vehicle adjacent and below the doorsill. One end of the safety belt is formed into a loop which slidesalong the bar. This end of the belt is thus movable between a frontposition, in which the end of the belt is located beside the front seat,this being the position adopted by the end of the belt when the safetybelt is in use, and a rear position, located behind the front seat,which is the position taken by the end of the belt when the safety beltis not in use.

Because the slider bar passes through the loop formed at the end of thebelt, the loop is automatically moved along the slider bar to the frontposition when the seat belt is fastened around a passenger or driver,and is automatically moved to the rear position, when the seat belt isnot in use, as the rest of the belt is retracted by the retractor reel.Thus, at all times, the end of the belt is conveniently positioned. Theend of the belt is in the correct position, from the safety point ofview, when the seat belt is in use, and the safety belt does not extendacross the door opening when the seat belt is not in use.

Various prior art devices of this type have been proposed, but all ofthe prior art devices suffer from the disadvantage that there is a riskthat a high-heel on a ladies shoe, for example a so-called stilletoheel, may get caught in the space between the slide bar and the adjacentdoor sill. If a heel does become caught in this way there is asignificant risk that the lady wearing the shoe will be tripped up andmay suffer injury.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide an anchorage point for a safetybelt, of the type generally described above in which the risk of a thinheel getting caught in the space between the slide bar and the adjacentdoor sill is reduced to a miminum or is completely eliminated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to this invention there is provided an anchorage for a seatbelt for use to protect a person sitting in a front seat of a two-doorvehicle, said anchorage comprising a slider bar mounted in the interiorof the vehicle adjacent the door sill and extending in the longitudinaldirection of the vehicle, one end of the seat belt being slidablyattached to the bar, so that the end of the belt can slide between afront position, adopted when the seat belt is in use, and a rearposition, adopted when the seat belt is not in use, wherein the sliderbar is adapted to be moved towards the sill when the slider bar issubjected to a force from above, so that the distance between the sliderbar and the sill is reduced.

Preferably the upper portion of the slider bar defines a substantiallyplanar surface, the planar surface being inclined to the horizontal, thenormal to the planar surface being directed upwardly and away from thedoor sill.

Conveniently the planar surface is inclined to the horizontal at anangle of approximately 45°.

Advantageously at least one end of the slider bar is resiliently mountedin position.

Conveniently at least said one end of the slider bar is provided with asupporting arm, the supporting arm being mounted on the sill in such away that the supporting arm can tilt towards the sill but cannot tiltaway from the sill.

Preferably the supporting arm terminates in a ring-shaped elementdefining an aperture, the shank of a bolt passing through the apertureto secure the ring-shaped element in position, there being a projectionspacing part of the ring-shaped element from a fixed part of the supportand there being a resilient element adjacent the ring-shaped element,the arrangement being such that the ring-shaped element can tilt in onedirection, with the resilient element being compressed, to enable theslider bar to move towards the sill, but cannot tilt in the oppositedirection due to the effect of the projection.

Advantageously the projection comprises a protruding lip provided on thering-shaped terminal element of the supporting arm.

Conveniently substantially identical supporting arms are provided ateach end of the slider bar.

Preferably the central or longitudinal axis of the slider bar ispositioned between the sill and a vertical plane passing through thepoint at which the bar is mounted to the vehicle.

Conveniently the upper portion of the door sill is provided with a lipprojecting towards the interior of the vehicle and at least partiallycovering the space between the slider bar and the sill.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, and so thatfurther features thereof may be appreciated, the invention will now bedescribed, by way of example, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which

FIG. 1 is a schematic elevational view of a prior art anchorage,illustrating the front and rear positions of one end of the seat belt,

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the anchorage shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 illustrates a high heel on a ladies shoe getting caught in thespace between the slider bar and the adjacent sill of the arrangementshown in FIGS. 1 and 2,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an anchorage inaccordance with the invention,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 and

FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 5 illustrating a modifiedembodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring initially to FIGS. 1 to 3, a prior proposed anchorage for asafety belt comprises an elongate bar 1 mounted in the motor vehicle toextend longitudinally of the vehicle.

The front end of the bar is curved or bent to form a mounting arm 2. Thefree end of the arm 2 defines an aperture through which passes a bolt 3to secure the end of the arm to a door sill 4. The bolt 3 is locatedbelow the level of the horizontal bar 1. The rear end of the bar 1 isalso bent downwardly to form a supporting arm 5 provided with anaperture through which passes a bolt 6 which secures this arm also tothe door sill 4.

A loop 7 formed at one end of a safety belt 8 encircles the horizontalbar 1. The loop 7 is such that the belt 8 may be moved from a forwardposition, shown in solid lines in FIG. 1, to a rear position, shown indotted lines in FIG. 1.

It can be seen that the slider bar 1 is mounted on the door sill 4 of amotor vehicle in alignment with a door opening 9 which is located infront of a rear seat 10. Thus, effectively, the slider bar 1 is mountedadjacent the front seat of the motor vehicle, which is not shown in FIG.1 for the sake of clarity of illustration. However, it will beunderstood that when the safety belt is in use the belt will occupy thesolid line position shown in FIG. 1, whereas when the belt is no longerin use, and the free length of belt has been withdrawn into theconventional retractor reel, the belt will occupy the position shown indotted lines in FIG. 1. In this position the belt does not obstruct asignificant part of the door opening, and thus the belt does not providean obstruction to a person entering or leaving the rear seat of thevehicle.

As shown more clearly in FIG. 2, the rear supporting arm 5 of the sliderbar 1 terminates in a ring-shaped portion 11 which defines a centralaperture through which passes the shank 12 of the securing bolt 6, theshank passing into a threaded bore of a mounting member 13 which ispositioned within the sill 4. However, the front supporting arm 2 is ofthe same design.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, the central axis of the horizontal part ofthe slider bar 1 is located at a greater distance from the sill than isthe ring-shaped part 11. Also the axis of the horizontal part of theslider bar 1 is located on the side of a vertical plane passing throughthe ring-shaped part 11 is remote from the door sill 4. Thus, if thehorizontal portion of the slider bar 1 is subjected to any pressure fromabove the horizontal part of the slideer bar would tend to move awayfrom the sill. Since the supporting arms 2 and 5 are inevitably slightlyresilient, when the slider bar is subjected to a downward force, thespace between the slide bar 1 and the sill 4 will be slightly increased.

As can be seen from FIG. 3 if a ladies shoe heel 14 engages the sliderbar 1, the slider bar 1 may move away from the door sill thus providingsufficient space to catch the free end of the heel 14. This may cause alady wearing the shoe to trip and injure herself if she is getting intothe car of if she is getting out of the car.

FIGS. 4 to 6 illustrate an embodiment of the invention.

In the invention, a slider bar 21 has a central horizontal portion, theforward end of which forms a downwardly extending support arm 22 and therear end of which forms a downwardly extending support arm 23. Thesupport arms 22,23 are connected to a door sill 24 in the same way, andthe arrangement mounting the support arm 23 to the door sill is shown incross-section in FIG. 5.

As can be seen, from FIG. 4, however, the slider bar 21 is encircled bya loop 25 formed at one end of the seat belt 26, and the slider bar ispositioned on the door sill 24 adjacent a door opening 27 in a motorcar. It will thus be appreciated that the slider bar 21 and theassociated safety belt 26 will operate in the same way as a slider bar 1and the associated safety belt 8 as described with reference to FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIG. 5 it is to be noted that the horizontal portion ofthe slider bar 21 is not of circular cross-section, but instead is ofsemi-circular cross-section, presenting a substantially planar face 28which is inclined at substantially 45° to the horizontal, the normal tothe face 28 being directed upwards and away from the door sill 24.

The support arm 23 for the slider bar 21 terminates in an annular flatring-like portion 29 which defines a central aperture.

The portion 29 terminates, adjacent its lower edge, with a forwardinglyextending lip or flange 30.

Located adjacent the portion 29 is a support member 31 of circular form,having a circular projection or boss 32. The lip 30 engages the edge ofthis projection 32.

A washer 33 of resilient material, such as, for example, rubber islocated between the portion 29 and the projection 32. A bolt 34 isprovided, which has a tubular spacing element 35 surrounding part of theshank 36 of the bolt. The tubular spacing element passes through theannular element 30, the washer 33, and the member 31. The threaded shankof the bolt 36 passes into a threaded bore formed in a supporting block37 which is mounted in the sill 24.

It will be appreciated that if the upper horizontal part 21 of theslider bar tends to move outwardly the ring-shaped element 30 will tendto pivot about the axis of the bolt 35, but the lip 30 will engage thesupporting member 31, and since the main part of the ring-shaped portion29 engages the head of the bolt, it will not be possible for the mainpart 21 of the slider bar to move away from the sill 24. However, if theslider bar tends to move in towards the sill, in the direction of thearrow 38 shown in FIG. 5, the resilient washer 33 will compress, thuspermitting the slider bar to move in slightly in the direction of thearrow 38.

It will be observed that since the slider bar 21 has the inclined planarface 28, if a downward force is applied to the face 28, a resultantforce will be generated, effective in the direction of the arrow 38.This is partly because of the nature of the inclined face 28, and partlybecause the inclined face is located, with regard to a vertical planepassing through the ring-shaped portion 29, on the side of that planetowards the sill 24.

It will thus be appreciated that there is only a very small chance thatthe heel of a shoe will become caught between the slider bar 21 and thesill 24. However, FIG. 6 illustrates a further modified embodiment ofthe invention, in which the same reference numerals are used for thesame parts as shown in FIG. 5. It will be seen that in the embodimentshown in FIG. 6 the door sill 24 is provided with an outwardly extendingrib or projection immediately above a slider bar 21, thus minimising therisk of a shoe heel being inserted in the gap between the slider bar 21and the sill 24.

Whilst essentially one embodiment of a slider bar in accordance with theinvention has been described, many variations and modifications arepossible within the scope of the invention.

For example, it is possible for only the front end of the slider bar tobe attached resiliently to the sill in the manner described. The rearend of the slider bar may be rigidly attached to the sill. In such acase only the front portion of the slider bar can move towards the sillwhen subjected to downward pressure, but the rear end of the slider barmay sometimes be positioned so close to the door sill that there is noreal risk of a heel engaging the gap between the slider bar and the doorsill in that region of the slider bar.

The precise technique for mounting the front and rear end of the sliderbar in position may be altered significantly, provided that at least thefront end of the slider bar may move in towards the sill.

The resilient washer 33 may be of rubber or any other resilient materialor may be replaced by a coil spring. The resilient washer may,alternatively, be located immediately adjacent the head of the bolt,between the head of the bolt and the ring-like end 29 of the slide bar.In such an embodiment a protusion will be provided on the upper part ofthe ring-shaped end 29 of the slide bar adapted to engage the inner sideof the head of the bolt.

In certain circumstances it may not be necessary to provide a spacingmeans, such as the element 31, to space the slide bar from the interiorwall of the sill, especially if the interior wall of the wall isinclined. In such a case, the end of the slide bar may be attacheddirectly to the wall of the sill, with the central axis of thehorizontal part of the slide bar nevertheless being positioned on thedesired side of the vertical plane passing through the mounting point.

The mounting points for the slider bar may be positioned above a sliderbar, but this has the disadvantage that the slider bar must have astronger design, so that it can better withstand the forces occurringduring accidents. In such a case, the forces are compressive forceswhich may break the mounting arms of the slider bar. Of course, the endsof the slider bar can also be attached to other portions of the vehiclethan the sill, for example the floor.

I claim:
 1. In an anchorage for a seat belt for use to protect a personsitting in a front seat of a two-door vehicle, said anchorage comprisinga slider bar mounted in the interior of the vehicle adjacent and spacedfrom a door sill of the vehicle and extending in the longitudinaldirection of the vehicle, with one end of the seat belt being slidablyattached to the bar, so that the end of the belt can slide between afront position, adopted when the seat belt is in use, and a rearposition, adopted when the seat belt is not in use; the improvementcomprising means, including a portion of said slider bar, for causingthe slider bar to be moved towards the sill in response to a verticalcomponent of a downward force from above to which the slider bar issubjected, so that the distance between the slider bar and the sill isreduced.
 2. In an anchorage for a seat belt for use to protect a personsitting in a front seat of a two-door vehicle, said anchorage comprisinga slider bar mounted in the interior of the vehicle adjacent and spacedfrom a door sill of the vehicle and extending in the longitudinaldirection of the vehicle, with one end of the seat belt being slidablyattached to the bar, so that the end of the belt can slide between afront position, adopted when the seat belt is in use, and a rearposition, adopted when the seat belt is not in use; the improvementcomprising means for causing the slider bar to be moved towards the sillwhen the slider bar is subjected to a downward force from above, so thatthe distance between the slider bar and the sill is reduced, and whereinsaid means includes an upper portion of the slider bar which defines asubstantially planar surface, with the planar surface being inclined tothe horizontal, and with the normal to the planar surface being directedupwardly and awy from the door sill.
 3. An anchorage according to claim2 wherein the planar surface is inclined to the horizontal at an angleof approximately 45°.
 4. An anchorage according to claim 1 wherein atleast one end of the slider bar is resiliently mounted in position tothe vehicle.
 5. In an anchorage for a seat belt for use to protect aperson sitting in a front seat of a two-door vehicle, said anchoragecomprising a slider bar mounted in the interior of the vehicle adjacentand spaced from a door sill of the vehicle and extending in thelongitudinal direction of the vehicle, with one end of the seat beltbeing slidably attached to the bar, so that the end of the belt canslide between a front position, adopted when the seat belt is in use,and a rear position, adopted when the seat belt is not in use; theimprovement comprising means, including a portion of said slider bar,for causing the slider bar to be moved towards the sill when the sliderbar is subjected to a downward force from above, so that the distancebetween the slider bar and the sill is reduced, and wherein: at leastone end of the slider bar is provided with a supporting arm which isresiliently mounted in position to the vehicle; and means are providedfor mounting the at least one supporting arm on the sill such that thesupporting arm can tilt towards the sill but cannot tilt away for thesill.
 6. An anchorage according to claim 5 wherein: the supporting armterminates in a ring-shaped element defining an aperture; and the meansfor mounting includes a bolt having a shank which passes through theaperture to secure the ring-shaped element in position, a projectionspacing part of the ring-shaped element from a fixed part of thesupport, and a resilient element disposed adjacent the ring-shapedelement, with the arrangement being such that the ring-shaped elementcan tilt in one direction, with the resilient element being compressed,to enable the slider bar to move towards the sill, but cannot tilt inthe opposite direction due to the effect of the projection.
 7. Ananchorage according to claim 6 wherein the projection comprises aprotuding lip provided on the ring-shaped terminal element of thesupporting arm.
 8. An anchorage according to claim 5 whereinsubstantially identical supporting arms are provided at each end of theslider bar.
 9. In an anchorage for a seat belt for use to protect aperson sitting in a front seat of a two-door vehicle, said anchoragecomprising a slider bar mounted in the interior of the vehicle adjacentand spaced from a door sill of the vehicle and extending in thelongitudinal direction of the vehicle, with one end of the seat beltbeing slidably attached to the bar, so that the end of the belt canslide between a front position, adopted when the seat belt is in use,and a rear position, adopted when the seat belt is not in use; theimprovement comprising means, includring a portion of said slider bar,for causing the slider bar to be moved towards the sill when the sliderbar is subjected to a downward force from above, so that the distancebetween the slider bar and the sill is reduced, and wherein said meansfor causing further includes means for mounting the slider bar so thatits central axis is positioned between the sill and a vertical planepassing through the point at which the bar is fastened to the vehiclefor pivotal movement toward the sill.
 10. An anchorage according toclaim 1, wherein an upper portion of the door sill is provided with alip projecting towards the interior of the vehicle and at leastpartially covering the space between the slider bar and the sill.
 11. Inan anchorage for a seat belt for use to protect a person sitting in afront seat of a two-door vehicle, said anchorage comprising a sliderbar, mounted in the interior of the vehicle adjacent and spaced from adoor sill of the vehicle, with said slider bar presenting an elongateportion extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle andsubstantially parallel with the door sill, and with one end of the seatbelt being slidably attached to said elongate portion, so that the oneend of the belt can slide between a front position, adopted when theseat belt is in use, and a rear position, adopted when the seat belt isnot in use, and at least one resilient connection between the saidelongate portion of the slider bar and the body of the vehicle;improvement comprising means, responsive to a downward force applied tosaid elongate portion of the slider bar and including a portion of saidslider bar, for generating a resultant force causing said elongateportion of said slider bar to move towards the sill, so that thedistance between the elongate portion of the slider bar and the sill isreduced.
 12. An anchorage according to claim 11, wherein said means forgenerating said resultant force includes a substantially planar surfaceformed on said elongate portion of said slider bar, with said planarsurface being inclined to the horizontal, and with the normal to thesaid planar surface being directed upwardly and away from the door sill.13. An anchorage according to claim 12, wherein said planar surface isinclined to the horizontal at an angle of approximately 45°.
 14. Ananchorage according to claim 11, wherein: at least one end of saidelongate portion of the bar is provided with a supporting arm; and saidat least one resilient connection includes a resilient mounting meansfor connecting the said supporting arm to the vehicle to enable saidslider bar to move towards the sill when the slider bar is subjected tosaid downward force from above.
 15. An anchorage according to claim 14,further comprising engagement means, which engage if the supporting armtilts away from the sill, for preventing said supporting arm fromtilting away from the sill, but which do not engage when said supportingarm tilts towards the sill.
 16. An anchorage according to claim 14wherein: said supporting arm terminates in a ring-shaped elementdefining an aperture; and said resilient mounting means includes a bolthaving a shank which passes through said aperture to secure saidring-shaped element in position to a support on the vehicle, aprojection spacing part of said ring-shaped element from a fixed part ofsaid support, and a resilient element disposed adjacent said ring-shapedelement, with the arrangement being such that the ring-shaped elementcan tilt in one direction, with said resilient element being compressed,to enable said slider bar to move towards the sill, but cannot tilt inthe opposite direction due to the effect of said projection.
 17. Ananchorage according to claim 16 wherein said projection comprises aprotruding lip provided on said ring-shaped element of said supportingarm.
 18. An anchorage according to claim 14 wherein substantiallyidentical supporting arms are provided at each end of said elongateportion of said slider bar.
 19. An anchorage according to claim 11,wherein: said elongate portion of said slider bar is mounted formovement about a pivot point spaced from the sill; and the longitudinalaxis of the slider bar is positioned between the sill and a verticalplane passing through said pivot point.
 20. An anchorage according toclaim 11, wherein an upper portion of the door sill is provided with alip projecting towards the interior of the vehicle and at leastpartially covering the space between said elongate portion of saidslider bar and the sill.